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Al-Munafiqun Section 1 - The Hypocrites

Never will God pardon the hypocrites, All honour is for God, His Apostle and the believers

Al-Munafiqun Verses 1 – 8

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the name of God the Beneficent the Merciful

إِذَا جَاءَكَ الْمُنَافِقُونَ قَالُوا نَشْهَدُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسُولُهُ وَاللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَكَاذِبُونَ

“When came unto thee the hypocrites, said they: “We bear witness that verily thou art the Apostle of God;” and verily God knoweth that thou (O’ Muhammad!) art certainly His Apostle; and verily God beareth witness that the hypocrites1are certainly the liars2.” (63:1)

اتَّخَذُوا أَيْمَانَهُمْ جُنَّةً فَصَدُّوا عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُمْ سَاءَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

“They make their oaths a shield, thus they obstruct (others) from the way of God; verily evil is what they are wont to do3.” (63:2)

ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ آمَنُوا ثُمَّ كَفَرُوا فَطُبِعَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ

“That is because they believe, then (again) disbelieve they, so a seal hath been set upon their hearts, so they understand not4.” (63:3)

وَإِذَا رَأَيْتَهُمْ تُعْجِبُكَ أَجْسَامُهُمْ وَإِنْ يَقُولُوا تَسْمَعْ لِقَوْلِهِمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ خُشُبٌ مُسَنَّدَةٌ يَحْسَبُونَ كُلَّ صَيْحَةٍ عَلَيْهِمْ هُمُ الْعَدُوُّ فَاحْذَرْهُمْ قَاتَلَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ

“When thou seest them, marvel thee5their bodies; and if they speak6, thou listeneth unto their speech; (they are) as if they were blocks of wood propped up in garments, deem they that every cry is against them, They are the enemy (of yours), so beware thou of them! may God annihilate them, whence do they deviate!” (63:4)

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا يَسْتَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ لَوَّوْا رُءُوسَهُمْ وَرَأَيْتَهُمْ يَصُدُّونَ وَهُمْ مُسْتَكْبِرُونَ

“And when it is said unto them: “Come ye! the Apostle of God will seek forgiveness for you,” they turn back their heads, and thou seest them turning away while they are the arrogant ones.” (63:5)

سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَسْتَغْفَرْتَ لَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ لَنْ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ

“Alike it is for them whether thou seekest forgiveness for them or seekest not forgiveness for them; Never will God forgive them; Verily God guideth not transgressing people7.” (63:6)

هُمُ الَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ لَا تُنْفِقُوا عَلَىٰ مَنْ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ حَتَّىٰ يَنْفَضُّوا وَلِلَّهِ خَزَائِنُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَٰكِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ

“They are the ones who say (unto those who help the believer refugees’)’. “Spend ye not aught upon those who are with the Apostle of God until they break up; And God’s are the treasures of the heavens and the earth, but the hypocrites understand (it) not.” (63:7)

يَقُولُونَ لَئِنْ رَجَعْنَا إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ لَيُخْرِجَنَّ الْأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا الْأَذَلَّ وَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَٰكِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

“Say they: “If we return to Madina, the honourable ones will certainly drive out the meaner ones; “but for God is all honour and for His Apostle and for the believers, but the hypocrites know (it) not.” (63:8)

Commentary

Verse 1

The hidden rancour of hypocrisy is more dangerous and more harmful than any open hostility for in whichever society it might exist, it effects disruption in it which undoubtedly is dangerous not only to the social health of the people but to its very existence.

When the Holy Prophet migrated from Mecca and arrived in Madina, he was wholeheartedly welcomed by every good-hearted one, for the advent of the Apostle of God brought to them not only the blessings of unity, harmony, brotherhood and mutual love among themselves for want of which they had suffered shedding of each other’s blood since ages together but also the light of the faith in God and the knowledge of the higher regions of the spiritual life and the moral excellence in their conduct and character. But among the Jews and the others in the place, there was also the baser element which aspired for complete hold on the people, playing on the hostilities of the tribal hatred and the other feuds and factions, to own the leadership of the people for themselves.

The arrival of God’s Apostle in Madina dashed all their aspirations to the ground and rang the deathknell to their venomous hopes, by crying a halt to all mutual animosities and by establishing the most practical and effective brotherhood in the faith. As Islam went on gaining strength after strength and the influence over the minds of the people, the selfish elements who aspired for all worldly power for themselves, began working underground, trying the worst possible for them by intriguing with the enemies of Islam, while at the same time they swore faith in God and loyalty to the Holy Prophet. These hypocrites were unmasked at the Battle of Uhud 8

The occasion for revelation of this verse is reported to be that in the fifth year of (Hijrat) (The Migration) the Jewish Tribe, Bani Mustaleq under their chief Harith Ibn Zarar decided to fight the Holy Prophet. In the actual clash with the Muslims, some of the Jews were killed and the others took to flight. During this expedition there occurred an occasion when Jehjeba a servant of ‘Umar was in distress against the enemy and shouted for help when a poor Muslim Ahbal by name went to his aid. Abdullah Ibn Obai, the chief of the hypocrites objected Ahbal from going to the aid of Jehjeba taunting him of his poverty and need and remarking against the Madinites having helped the Holy Prophet and accommodated him and the believers, when they migrated from Mecca. This, Abdullah Ibn Obai did, in a very insulting manner - comparing himself as the most honourable and the Holy Prophet as the most ignoble one.

Zaid Ibn Arqam who was present there got angry and reprimanded Abdullah saying that the most honourable and the one revered the most, was the Holy Prophet and the most ignoble and mean was he (Abdullah). Abdullah immediately said that he meant only a joke. But Zaid Ibn Arqam reported the matter to the Holy Prophet who summoned Abdullah and enquired, and Abdullah gave a total denial saying what was reported to be a false charge against him and took false oaths in support of his denial. The Holy Prophet pacified the people who felt insulted by Abdullah’s remarks attributing the report to Zaid’s indiscretion. The Holy Prophet ordered the people to return to Madina. Obaidullah, son of Abdullah Ibn Obai, came to the Holy Prophet and asked for his permission to kill his father for insulting the Apostle of God and the believers.

The Holy Prophet said: “Go thou, and behave gently with thy father and be regardful to him.” When they reached Ba’qa, they camped there and a violent wind blew and the camel which the Holy Prophet rode was missing. The Holy Prophet said that the blow of the violent wind was due to the death of a notable one at Madina. People asked who the person was who expired at that moment at Madina - the Holy Prophet said ‘Rifa’a’. One of the hypocrites remarked that “It is a wonder; the Apostle of God knows news of what had taken place in a distant place” (Madina).

The Holy Prophet said the remark of the hypocrite offended God and sent Gabriel to inform him of the whereabouts of the camel. He told the people to go to a place where the people went and found the animal tied to a date palm, as they were told. When the Holy Prophet reached the outskirts of Madina, the people saw the coffin of Rifa’a and the funeral party proceeding to the cemetery of Baqi. When the caravan of the Muslims reached the valley of ‘Aqeeq’ – Obaidullah obstructed his father Abdullah Ibn Obai from entering into Madina saying that he would not allow him to move from there unless the Holy Prophet permitted him. Abdullah sent his men to the Holy Prophet who commanded Obaidullah to allow his father to have his way and not to trouble him at all. Obaidullah addressing his father Abdullah said: “I leave thee just in obedience to the command of the Apostle of God, but I would not allow you to move from this spot unless thou recitest ‘Honour, i.e., Reverence is only for God, His Apostle and the Believers in Him.” Abdullah would not have done it but seeing that his son would stick up to the condition to the last, did recite the clause. After his return to Madina, Abdullah Ibn Obai fell ill and after a few days died. When the people taunted Zaid Ibn Arqam for having reported to the Holy Prophet against Abdullah Ibn Obai, Zaid felt very much and confined himself to his house. This verse was revealed to clear the position of Zaid compared to the hypocrites and their bogus claims of their faith in God and his loyalty to the Holy Prophet.

It indicates that though the proposition in question, i.e., an apostleship of the Holy Prophet is true, and their evidence also was fact - yet God beareth witness they are liars - because their verbal evidence was not in complete accord with what was in their heart, hence, termed liars. The difference between hypocrisy and ‘Taqiah’ is that the former exposes belief and hides disbelief for some temporal motives and the latter hides belief and expresses disbelief with some godly motive. (A.P.)

Verse 2

The professing the faith and their oaths are all blank, without any sincerity in it, there being no agreement between their mouths and their hearts9.

Verse 3

The setting of the seal is only the natural consequence of the persistence in disbelief and the adamance against the guidance10.

A mere withdrawal of the guidance, which the disbelievers were determined not to avail of it, is the virtual sealing of the hearts effected by the disbelievers themselves.

Verse 4

Note how aptly the hypocrites are compared to how bits of timber propped up against other things, i.e., they are useless to serve as a reliable support, i.e., they are without faith or any firmness of character. They are unsafe and unreliable props. Their guilty conscience so constantly pricks them that whenever any cry is raised, they think it to be against them, and they get alarmed and whenever there happens any incursion of the enemy they prove to be the worst cowards. And whenever anything is revealed to the Holy Prophet, they think it to be against them.

They are the worst enemy of the Holy Prophet and Islam for a hidden foe is worse than an open enemy.

Compare this with the phrase in the 2:247 - There, the quality of body is used in a varied sense, of strength, valour and here in a sense of condemnation as a pose and pomp as the verse itself explains blocks of wood with no life in it. (A.P.)

Verse 5-6

The adamance of the rejectors of the truth has deprived them of God’s mercy for the intercession of the Apostle of God, would be available for the unintentional sinners among the believers who owing to their personal weakness and not for those who have adamantly rebelled against God and His Apostle.

It does not mean that God refrains, or the Holy Prophet’s intervention is of no use, it means that the blessing of God through the intervention of the Holy Prophet would not avail those whose heart is perverted as explained in the verse itself. (A.P.)

Verse 7

The hypocrites did not relish the Madinites helping the believer refugees from Mecca, and went to the extent of dissuading them from doing any good to them.

Note how the truth has been presented that God does not leave His devotees to the mercy of the charity of the disbelievers or the hypocrites. It is He Who provides everyone with the sustenance, and the treasures of the heavens and the earth belong to none but to Him. And He is the sufficient sustainer for everyone who depends upon Him. He is the sustainer of even the disbelievers and hypocrites. His general mercy is universal, reaching one and all of His creatures.

This is a warning to those who attempt to strangle a right cause by creating economic pressure against its adherents. (A.P.)

Verse 8

This is what the Arch-Hypocrite Abdullah Ibn Obai had said - which was reported by Zaid Ibn Arqam11.

This is an encouragement for the advocates of the right cause to be sure that they are honoured by God with blessing in spite of the hypocrites and the infidels looking down on them. (A.P.)

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